Plot

In 1892, a legendary Army Captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory.

In 1892 after nearly two decades of fighting the Cheyenne, the Apache, and the Comanche natives, the United States Cavalry Captain and war hero Joseph Blocker is ordered to escort the ailing Cheyenne chief, Yellow Hawk--his most despised enemy--to his ancestral home in Montana's Valley of the Bears. Nauseated with a baleful anger, Joseph's unwelcome final assignment is further complicated when widowed settler Rosalie Quaid is taken in by his band of soldiers. Aggressive packs of marauding Comanches are still on the warpath and thirsty for blood, so can the seasoned Captain do his duty one last time?—Nick Riganas

In 1892, settler Rosalee Quaid and her family are attacked by a Comanche war group who kill and scalp her husband and also shoot and kill her three children. Only Rosalee manages to escape the attack by hiding in a small rock outcrop in the forest. In Fort Berringer, New Mexico, Captain Joseph Blocker rounds up an escaping Apache family and brings them back to the fort. He is then called to the office of Colonel Abraham Biggs, who informs him of his final orders before retirement. On a directive from President Harrison, he is to escort dying Cheyenne war chief, Yellow Hawk, and four members of his family back to their tribal lands in Montana. Under threat of a court-martial and loss of his pension, Blocker reluctantly accepts, despite his own gory history with the chief, who was responsible for the death of several of his friends and comrades. Blocker chooses the detail that will accompany him: his trusty old friend, First Sergeant Thomas Metz, long-time aide Corporal Woodson, and promising newcomer Lieutenant Kidder, fresh from West Point. Biggs also assigns to the detail a young French-speaking recruit, Private DeJardin.

US Cavalry captain Joseph J. Blocker is about to retire in 1892 after a career of protecting Wild West pioneer families by fighting Indian 'savages' from various tribes. Under a presidential order, regimental colonel Abraham Biggs must force him to lead a patrol to return long-imprisoned, terminally-ill Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk and his four relatives from Fort Berringer, New Mexico, to their Montana native land, the Valley of the Bears, as a 'humanitarian gesture'. Joe's hatred for Indians and cruelty to his charges are kindled as they pass a burnt homestead and take along fresh widow Rosalee Quaid, helping to bury her children. But on the long way, they must pull together to fight off Apache and Comacnhe war parties, where the Cheyenne warrior skills prove invaluable and they manage to bond with Rosalie, while cavalry man fall, including gentle recruit private Philippe DeJardin and one of Joe's old comrades in arms. On the way Rosalie declines settling with commanding lieutenant colonel Ross McCowan's family in a garrison but Joe accepts to deliver to his murder trial a comrade gone rogue, who proves most troublesome. At arrival, Joe's loyalties have shifted and he deals with the illegally hostile reception of the local rancher.—KGF Vissers

In New Mexico in 1892, settler Rosalee Quaid (Rosamund Pike) and her family are attacked by a Comanche war group who kill her husband and three children (2 girls Lucy and Sylvie and an infant named Jacob). The war group had come for the horses on the Quaid ranch. Her husband Wesley decided to fight as if he fled, the Comanche would have taken everything and set fire to the ranch. Lucy and Sylvie are not able to run as fast as Rosalee and were killed by the Comanche who scaled Wesley first. Rosalee escapes by hiding under a rock outcrop in the surrounding hills, but she did not realize that the infant Jacob was already dead from a bullet wound. The Comanche set fire to the ranch before leaving.

At Fort Berringer, soon-to-retire U.S. Army captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale) is ordered by President Harrison & Col. Abraham Biggs (Stephen Lang), Blocker's commanding officer to escort the cancer-stricken Cheyenne war chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) (an imprisoned (for 7 years already) and sickly Cheyenne leader being taken home to die) and four members of his family back to their tribal lands (The Valley of the Bears) in Montana, which is sacred Cheyenne territory.

Jeremiah Wilks (Bill Camp) is the frontier correspondent for Harper's Weekly. Wilks is an advocate for a more humane approach towards the Apache tribe and had a role to play in convincing the President on the order. Wilks says that Blocker has a reputation for taking more scalps than the Sitting Bull (He was known for his involvement in the Native American rebellions of the late 1800s, including Red Cloud's War and the Battle of Little Bighorn) himself. The release of the chief has become a pivot for a thaw in Native American relations with the US Government and as such the Government wants Yellow Hawk to reach his home safely, without incident. Biggs selects Blocker as he knows the Native American language and knows the trail to Montana. Blocker is then ordered to travel to Fort Mustang for his mustering out.

The family members are Black Hawk (Adam Beach), Yellow Hawk's son. Elk Woman (Q'Orianka Kilcher), Black Hawk's wife. Living Woman (Tanaya Beatty), Black Hawk's sister. Little Bear (Xavier Horsechief), the young son of Black Hawk and Elk Woman.

Blocker initially refuses as he and Yellow Hawk are old enemies but accepts under the threat of court-martial and loss of his pension. Blocker has a deep hatred for the Apache tribe in his heart. Yellow Hawk had killed a friend of Blocker's by slitting him from end to end. Blocker says that Yellow Hawk and his tribe butchered a whole company of soldiers in a way that their remains could not be gathered even for a proper funeral. Biggs hands over the President's orders to Blocker to ensure that the entourage gets safe passage across the land.

Blocker sets out for Montana accompanied by his old friend first sergeant Thomas Metz (Rory Cochrane), long-time aide corporal Woodson (Jonathan Majors) (an African American soldier who served under Blocker for many years), West Point newcomer lieutenant Kidder (Jesse Plemons), and a young private named Dejardin (Timothée Chalamet). Kidder is in charge of provisions and ammunition.

Blocker challenges Yellow Hawk to a knife fight, but he refuses. Blocker orders the natives to be put in chains. The group soon comes across the Quaid house and Rosalee's dead husband Wesley Quaid (Scott Shepherd). Inside the house, they find a traumatized Rosalee and her deceased children. Rosalee was in shock and believed that her children were sleeping.

After some convincing, Rosalee agrees to join the company until their next stop-over in Fort Winslow, Colorado. Blocker knew that Comanche who attacked the ranch could not be far away and sets up a defensive perimeter around their camp. Rosalee breaks down at the sight of Native Americans in Blocker's entourage. After the initial shock wears off, Rosalee buries her family by digging the graves herself. This allows her to get a sense of closure. Rosalee makes Blocker promise that if she dies, she will be buried in the same field.

Yellow Hawk tries to tell Blocker that the Comanche are the worst Native Americans as they don't differentiate between the white man and the other native tribes like the Apache. They are soon ambushed by the Comanche who kill Dejardin and seriously injure Woodson before being forced to retreat. Blocker sees Yellow Hawk fighting the Comanche himself to protect his family. After the attack, Yellow Hawk convinces Blocker to unchain him and his family so they can help with future attacks. Kidder is shaken since this is the first time he has killed a man. Metz counsels Kidder that eventually he will get used to the killing as a soldier, but he would never get used to losing his friends and comrades.

The following day, three dead Comanches are discovered, and Blocker correctly deduces that Yellow Hawk and his son Black Hawk sneaked out of camp and killed them overnight.

At Fort Winslow, the group drops off the wounded Woodson and Blocker arranges for Rosalee to stay with the fort's commander Lt. Col. Ross McCowan (Peter Mullan), but she chooses to remain with the group. Mrs McCowan (Robyn Malcolm) riles Rosalee at dinner by saying that the US Government treats the Native Americans inhumanely and that they were on the land first, and have received no compensation in exchange. Also, McCowan says that the fort has no regular stagecoach service as it was not commercially viable, and the supply train won't arrive till Christmas.

Blocker is ordered to bring disgraced sergeant Philip Wills (Ben Foster) to be hanged for murdering a Native family. Wills is to be taken to the fort Pierce from where he deserted. Wills is to face the courts at Pierce for the murder charge. Two members of the fort, corporal Thomas (Paul Anderson) (a British-born soldier) and sergeant Malloy (Ryan Bingham), join Blocker's company to oversee Wills. Blocker says goodbye to a recovering Woodson in the infirmary as the entourage moves ahead.

Wills chastises Blocker (for escorting the natives back to their land, and even giving them their land back) and the Natives. Wills had served with Blocker before and knew that Blocker was as anti-native as they come in the Union Army. But Blocker rebuffs saying that he was only doing his job and was not out on some personal vendetta. Rosalee thanks Elk Woman for sharing her clothes in the first part of the journey till Fort Winslow.

Near camp, Rosalee, the chief's daughter Living Woman, and Black Hawk's wife Elk Woman are abducted (while they were washing dishes by the river, and away from camp) and sexually assaulted by three fur traders. The group hunts down and kills the men who sexually assaulted the women. The next night, Metz walks into a downpour and begins to express guilt for his past actions against the Natives, leaving Blocker concerned. Meanwhile, Wills feigns illness allowing him to kill Kidder and escape. Metz chases after him against Blocker's orders. The next day, the group finds their bodies with Metz still clutching a gun in his hand following his own apparent suicide. A devastated Blocker is consoled by Rosalee. They travel farther north as Yellow Hawk's condition continues to deteriorate. Blocker makes peace with the chief for the hardships they have inflicted upon one another over the years.

Yellow Hawk dies just as the group arrives at the tribal lands in Montana, where he is buried. As Blocker and others prepare to leave, a white man and his three ranch hands ride up, declare that they own the land, and order Blocker and the rest of the group to leave with the chief's body. Blocker informs them of the president's orders, only to be threatened at gunpoint. Blocker refuses, and a brutal shootout ensues. Black Hawk, Living Woman, Elk Woman and corporal Thomas are killed and buried next to the chief.

Rosalee decides to take Black Hawk's orphan son, Little Bear, with her to Chicago. At the train station, the pair thank and bid an emotional farewell to Blocker. He hands Little Bear a gift: a book about Julius Caesar. As the train departs, Blocker decides to jump aboard.